


Crystal Shores

by thefourarmedtitan



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Everyone is a merperson unless otherwise stated, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Nudity, Self-Harm, mild violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-06
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-16 07:43:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2261508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefourarmedtitan/pseuds/thefourarmedtitan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was late in the evening, high tide had swept up a majority of the tide pools on the rocky shores. Not even the seagulls made a single call, they were all perched up on the light house in the distance. The giant structure' slight was just enough to illuminate a lone woman working on the rocks with a set of boxes, her pickup truck parked a few yards away behind a guardrail.<br/>"Why do I need to do this?" Annie sighed to herself, "these fish may be rare but why do I need to be the one to take them from the aquarium?" The blonde had been working undercover with her partners Reiner and Bertholdt to bust the Ocean Survey Aquarium which had been illegally trading rare fish and taking them from the sea. Presently she was adjusting the temperature in a bucket with a few small colorful fish swimming in it using seawater and a short hose. "Can't those two imbeciles figure out how to move a fish from one place to another without killing them?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shakeup

It was late in the evening, high tide had swept up a majority of the tide pools on the rocky shores. Not even the seagulls made a single call, they were all perched up on the light house in the distance. The giant structure's slight was just enough to illuminate a lone woman working on the rocks with a set of boxes, her pickup truck parked a few yards away behind a guardrail.  
"Why do I need to do this?" Annie sighed to herself, "these fish may be rare but why do I need to be the one to take them from the aquarium?" The blonde had been working undercover with her partners Reiner and Bertholdt to bust the Ocean Survey Aquarium which had been illegally trading rare fish and taking them from the sea. Presently she was adjusting the temperature in a bucket with a few small colorful fish swimming in it using seawater and a short hose. "Can't those two imbeciles figure out how to move a fish from one place to another without killing them?"  
As she muttered about her shitty job the ground rocked and some small rocks tumbled into the sea and bounced off of Annie as she curled into herself to shield her head and body from any damage, the water in the bucket splashed but did not spill any fish or tilt over, the ocean on the other hand rose and fell with great force showering Annie with spray and waves that splashed across her feet and legs.  
"And that's why I hate this damn job!" Annie shouted when the earthquake subsided, "not even the ground can stay still." A few moments later she tilted the bucket into the sea, spilling out the fish which dove into the waves. The largest fish stayed near the surface as it swam out.  
Annie began to pack up her gear when she saw a pointed stick pop out of the sea, harpooning one of the fish she had just released. Luckily it was close enough to grab and the blonde nimbly snatched the pole just under where the fish was squirming as it died and heaved it over her shoulder onto the rocks, where it fell into a tide pool with a splash. 'Why was that stick so heavy and where did it come from?"  
As she crawled near the rocky pond, she saw the stick which appeared to be a piece of driftwood that had been carved with a sharp rock and outfitted with one at the end. The fish remained on the end, still now as blood trickled from where the spear pierced through it. Before she could examine it further, Annie's eye was caught by a small blonde head poking out of the pool. As soon as it noticed Annie looking at it, it dove back into the pool. "What the fuck is that?" Annie breathed.  
When she crawled closer Annie was shocked, the head belonged to a blonde man who was crouching in the far corner of the tide pool away from Annie, but as her eyes traveled down his torso, Annie gasped. The man had no legs, just a long tail that gleamed the same gold as the "man's" hair. 'A merman' she thought, her rational mind tried to deny it, but Annie had not drank that night, she never did before work, but maybe one of those rocks.  
The merman let out a quiet whistle, almost like a dolphin. He appeared to be injured, his arm was bruised and his head was cut. Annie tried to reach to touch his tail but the merman thrashed it around wildly, whistling and letting out broken screams in panic. Taking a moment's thought, Annie reached back behind here and pulled the fish off of the spear. "You want this?" Annie asked unsure if she was going to be understood by the living and wide-eyed myth in a pool in front of her.  
The merman stopped his shrieking and looked at the fish in Annie's hand. After a few moments, he snatched it, his webbed and scaly hands rubbing against Annie's for a few milliseconds. He then began to scratch at the fish and the scales fell off along with pieces of skin. Realizing she could not just leave him there, Annie snuck around behind him with a large tub she had brought her supplies in and filled it with water from another pull. Moving silently with the container, she set it down and grabbed the merman under the armpits and hoisted him into the tank he squeaked once, gripping his fish before Annie put the hole-ridden lid on top of the bucket and fastened it on. Working fast she dashed to her pickup with her cargo which shook and let out muffled wails and whistles in her arms. Sliding the makeshift transport into her pickup's trunk and then closing and moving a cover over it. As fast as possible Anie dashed back to the rocks, gathered up her supplies and tossed them in the small backseat, not caring about there condition.  
"I can't fucking believe this is happening," Annie breathed gunning the car's engine and speeding down the dark path with her cargo whistling a mournful tune into the night.  
******************************************  
In a newly formed cavern dozens of yard down the slope from where Annie had captured the merman, a sharp-fingered and webbed hand gripped onto the rocks around the entrance. Letting out a garbled roar of sorts a green-scaled shape rushed out of the shadows startling a small school of fish. Closely behind it, a black-scaled figure swam out of the cave letting out a loud cry, almost like a whale's song. Swimming around the rocky sand bed and cavern, the two dark figures continued their cries before swimming off into the shadowy depths.  
'Where is he?!' the green one hissed as he jetted through schools of fish, 'where is he where is he where is he?!' The dark one suddenly accelerated and caught the frantic merman by the arm. He looked at her with pure panic in his eyes, "we can't lose him," he whined, "not him."  
"We will find him," the dark one whispered, "he can't be far."  



	2. Teacher

"Pick up your phone," Annie whispered, "pick it up you dumb blonde ape."  
The ringing stopped and the 'dumb blonde ape' in question let out a tired indecipherable groan. "Annie? What's up, did the job go as planned? Or did that god forsaken tremor mess it up?"  
"Well it did lead to a little problem," Annie admitted sarcastically, "why was the quake so bad for you? Did it interrupt your beauty sleep?"  
"Yes it did!" The voice responded, "and what's the little problem?"  
"You remember group 104, the ones who live around and under seabed here?" Annie asked, casting a quick glance at her cargo, which was firmly strapped down in the back of her pickup, "well one got out."  
The voice let out a heavy sigh, "are you sure?"  
"It harpooned one of the fish, what else could it be Reiner?" Annie snapped, "also I have it."  
"You HAVE it?!" Reiner yelled, "hold on I'm getting Bertholdt." The phone went silent as Annie continued cruising the dark streets, the only sound was some muffled talking in the background.  
"Annie?" A quiet voice asked, "do you really have one of them?"  
"Yes Bertl, I'm bringing it to my house now," Annie was steadily growing more worried. Annie had worked in the Cryptid Protection Agency, or C.P.A, with Bertholdt and Reiner for over five years now with a perfect record, but now this unauthorized removal of a merman may cost her, and her two partners, their jobs. "It looks like a male, about five-foot-five, with gold scales and hair, an adult. Injuries on the head and tail from when I accidentally pulled it on the rocks. Can you guys come and help tomorrow?"  
"We got invited out on that boat trip by Dr. Zoë remember?" Bertl reminded Annie who groaned, "we could say you got sick, but if all of us said that, she's smart enough to know something's up. We won't be able to come to your house until the evening after tomorrow. You think you can manage him until then?"  
"I hope so, at least his tail is injured, that's the part I need to look out for. It's like a third arm." Annie was rambling now, worried at the prospect of having to care for the cryptid, she was not the 'loving nurse' type.  
"Hang in there okay?" Bertholdt asked, worried for his friend.  
"Try not to drag in any more endangered species!" Reiner called out from the background before Bertholdt hung up. Annie was at her house now and head butted the top of her steering wheel in exhaustion.  
******************************************  
One good thing about this situation was the merman's biology, Annie remembered a corpse that had been discovered and she had help study. From the autopsy, the C.P.A found these living myths had a similar ability to bull sharks in that they could regulate the salt content in their bodies. Meaning Annie could comfortably put the merman in her bathtub.  
"Alright blondie, I'm stuck with you for now so here's where you're staying." Annie popped the lid off of the portable bin she brought the merman in and he slipped out of it into the tub.As soon as he realized the smallness of his new quarters he looked at Annie with a look reminiscent of a kicked puppy. "Don't try that look with me fish-boy," Annie grumbled, "I have nowhere else for you to stay."  
"Arumiii," the blonde cryptid moaned. Annie covered here ears, he had been doing this since she started the long process of moving him from her car and up the stairs.  
"Stop that, Jesus Christ!" Annie hissed back at him, the howls were not particularly loud but a low frequency that echoed in her head. "Is that all you can say? 'Cause that's gonna run real thin real quick."  
"Qu-eeck," was the reply, "real qu-eeck?"  
"Great now you're gonna mimic me all night, huh?" Annie grabbed the fish she brought from her fridge up and tossed it at the merman, "here, eat." The moaning blonde stretched out and reached for the fish, but missed and grabbed Annie's leg instead. In that moment, he became rigid and his grip tightened slightly as his eyes widened in fear.  
"You could at least buy me dinner first," Annie scoffed prying the scaly fingers off of her leg, "and not reek of fish." As soon as he realized he wasn't about to die, the merman dove back in the tub and splashed around a bit while he scooped up the fish. Popping his head out, he thoughtfully chewed the fish while looking at Annie's face.  
"So, I'm obviously not getting any sleep tonight, and you can learn how to talk," Annie said as she looked at the loose bandages around the cryptid's head. "Great I'm gonna have to redo those, how the hell am I supposed to keep him still to tie his head up?'  
"Talk." The blonde said, his mouth still full of fish.  
"Hm, more or less," Annie sighed, brushing some hair out of her eyes and pointing to her chest. "Okay, say my name, I'm Annie."  
"Aaahh-neee," the blonde repeated, stretching his mouth wide. Going beyond just saying it, the half-man pointed at his own chest, "Annie! Annie, Annie, Annie!"  
No, I'm Annie," the blonde girl sighed, "shit you don't have a name do you?"  
Almost like he understood, the merman looked at Annie, "Aruuuumi." Continuing his copying, he pointed at his chest and opened his mouth wide again, "Arumi," moving his arm around, "Annie!"  
"Arumi," Annie paused, the name did not sound right for some reason, "Armin?" Mere seconds after christening her accidental captive, Annie was doused with a miniature tsunami, courtesy of Armin's still swift tail thrashing in the tub. Once the excited tail whipping stopped, Annie uncovered her face from behind her arms, "you done, blondie?"  
"Done!" Armin's eyes were alight with excitement and his tail was still whipping up small splashes of water.  
"Good," Annie said as she let the faucet run to refill the emptied bath, "now let's see how much I can teach you."


	3. Hunters

"You know, when you brats applied to work with us, I almost laughed." Reiner and Bertholdt were on a boat with two of the people who were main suspects in their investigation, Dr. Hange Zoë and Levi Ackerman. "You're lucky you both did well in marine bio in college, we don't typically hire people who's only experience is working as janitors at a McDonalds, especially with how shitty you are at cleaning up after yourselves."  
"Almost laughed?" Bertholdt inquired and was immediately stabbed by a glare from the dark-haired man, "almost laughed, sir?" Levi was oddly stoic about being referred to like some military official.  
"Levi hates laughing," an energetic voice shouted from the inside of the ship's front, "he hates not looking like some big macho guy. Napoleon Complex if you ask me!"  
"Shut up and steer four-eyes, we should be there soon," Levi practically hissed at the voice hidden in the ship's cabin.  
"Aye, aye Captain!" The voice teased, laughing when she heard the small bucket get kicked at the cabin door by a swift kick from Levi.  
"Where are we going anyway?" Reiner asked, looking at the shoreline that was now tiny in the distance, the lighthouse on it nothing but a thick white line, like someone had drawn with a white marker across the town and shore. He had to grip onto the gunwale of the boat when the engine stopped and the door of the cabin flew open.  
"We're going fishing!" Hange almost jumped out of the small room and whisked a tarp off of a set of nets and large buckets, "too bad your friend Annie had to miss this, it's like a rite of passage for the new guys here."  
Bertholdt staggered back when the brunette threw a thick rope net at him, Reiner also sank down a bit when she handed him a nearly six foot long empty tank. "What are we fishing for, Doctor Zoë?" Reiner asked, "this is some heavy equipment."  
"My, my aren't we observant?" Hange whistled as they moved a few buckets that sloshed as they were moved, "we're going to try to lure some fish up! We're throwing Erwin a surprise cookout for his birthday next week and I got permission from the local police to fish for the grub!"  
'Yeah a cookout, sure.' Reiner thought darkly but kept a poker face, "sounds great let's get started!"  
******************************************  
An hour in and the four boaters had netted little to nothing. "Time to break out the big guns," Hange tore the lid off of a bucket, revealing a swirling mess of red chum. Bertholdt gagged and the stench and Reiner stared at it as if it were a three headed fish.  
"Disgusting, four-eyes," Levi muttered, regarding Hanji who was enthusiastically lifting up the concoction to toss over the side, "you better hope you don't get this boat dirty with that shit."  
"You'd just clean it up anyway!" Hange sang as she dumped the bloody mixture off of the boat. "Toss the net over, colossus!" Bertholdt sighed at the nickname and flung the net over the reddened water.  
Not even five minutes in, wild thrashing came from the net along with an earsplitting screech. Levi's eyes widened and Bertholdt and Reiner hauled some ropes to pull the trapped animal on the boat. Hange was busy staring wide-eyed at the strange beast they pulled up.  
Once it was on the boat, the animal stopped thrashing and simply hissed at whoever came close. She appeared human, with long dark hair and what appeared to be freckles on her tanned face, after that, the similarities ended. Her hands ended in sharp webbed claws, when she hissed shark-like fangs glinted in the afternoon sun and to top it all off, she had a dark brown tail that swept around the red water on the boat.  
After a few minutes of awed watching of the mermaid, Levi pulled out a gun from under a black coat he had draped over his shoulders, "Hange, get those brats away from that thing! I'll tranq it."  
"Levi! Behind you!" Hange howled as Levi was tackled to his knees by a golden shape that exploded in a plume of seawater behind him. In a matter of seconds he broke free of the tail that was trying to crush his legs. A second mermaid had appeared, a golden one like Annie had found, but female as opposed to the male Reiner and Bertholdt had been told of.  
The cryptid hissed at the standing trio as Levi groaned at the back-end of the boat. Working fast, she helped her netted comrade shred the net with her teeth and slightly duller claws. Bertholdt, Reiner and Hange were immobile as the two myths tore up the net, let out warbling roars at them, and crawled over the side of the boat back into the sea.  
"You two stay out here and tend to Levi, we're heading back." Hange ordered, their peppiness gone as they rushed to the cabin and gunned the engine, jostling the boys on the deck.  
"Reiner, what do we do?" Bertholdt asked, his palms clammy with a cold sweat, "we should prosecute them, these two might blab to their boss, and hunt down the entire population here! Not only that but once the public finds out,"  
"Hey hey Bertl, look at me," the tall man ceased his frantic babble and looked at Reiner, who was staring at him as he set Levi on a bench, "Mr. Smith is out on a business call, Hange and Levi have no one to tell right now. We're going to call the boss and find out what to do, we will not prosecute these two until our orders are clear, do you understand?"  
"Yes..." Bertholdt sighed as he wrung his hands, "sorry about that, I haven't had a panic attack like that since Scotland."  
"Hey this is like Scotland!" Reiner laughed punching his friend on the shoulder, "and that all worked out just fine right?"  
Bertholdt chuckled and rubbed his shoulder lightly, "yeah, yeah. You'll figure it out, Reiner."  
"No, we'll figure it out, me, you and Annie." Reiner corrected, "we're a team, and we've got each other's backs one-hundred percent!" He shot Bertholdt a toothy grin, which was returned by a small smile.  
"Yeah, we're a team, Reiner," Bertholdt whispered, "you're right, we'll figure it out. We always have."


	4. Revelation

"Alright, Hanji left to take Levi to the hospital, let's go to Annie's." Bertholdt said, he and Reiner had been left in a parking lot near where Hange docked the boat.  
"Yeah," Reiner muttered, "hey Bertl, can I ask you something? Those two that we encountered today, did they seem familiar to you?"  
"Now that you mention it, yeah they did." Bertholdt shook his head, "I'm sure they just look like someone we've seen in the streets or something, it all happened so fast, I'm sure we were just not thinking right."  
"Yeah," Reiner sighed, "yeah you're probably right. I'm just being ridiculous, this whole mess is just screwing with my head." Reiner unlocked a small convertible, "come on, let's go."  
******************************************  
"Annie are you okay? Are you okay, are you okay Annie?" Reiner sang barely holding in his laughter as he knocked on the door of Annie's house. Out of nowhere, the door slammed open and Reiner was rapped on the head by Annie's knuckles.  
"Reiner?! Are you okay?!" Annie shouted at Reiner who waved his arms at Annie's hand, Bertholdt was just squeezing out of Reiner's too small car. "How many times have I asked you not to do that?"  
"Thirty-three," Berholdt huffed as he jogged up the small flight of stairs to Annie's door, "so, how is he?"  
"Sleeping," Annie yawned rubbing her eyes, "I was up well until three in the morning teaching him basic language, Armin was very into learning."  
"Armin?" Bertholdt asked, "you named it?"  
"He kept wailing 'Arumi' and I needed to name him something," Annie sighed, "something about the name Armin clicked when I thought about it. Anyway, come in, come in."  
"Something about Armin clicked?" Reiner asked, "that's funny, I feel like I've known that name for a long time, but it's such a weird name. It's just like earlier, I feel like I know him."  
"What happened earlier?" Annie asked, "also, I thought you were supposed to be out with the science nut and clean freak longer than this."  
"Dr. Zoë hooked a mermaid and Mr. Clean got knocked out by her savior," Reiner explained, "she drove him to a hospital. Luckily, Erwin's out of town and Hange is renowned for being eccentric, I doubt anyone will believe her. Levi is also no one's favorite person here, the townspeople will probably write him off as crazy too."  
"Y'know Reiner, you said those two seemed familiar," Bertholdt asked scratching his head, "it's a little odd the name Armin seems familiar to us isn't it?"  
"Familiar to all three of us," Reiner pointed out, "Annie, you did say it clicked when you thought about it."  
"That is strange," Annie admitted, "well we're lucky it was a crazy person and the neighborhood outcast who found out about our little friends after we did. Also, Reiner, who would've thought you'd recognize two girls?" Annie joked, "I thought you weren't into them."  
Suddenly, a pain like a jolt of lightning struck through Reiner's mind and he was transported to a hazy room lit by torchlight. "Creeping into a girls room at night Reiner...?" Reiner could only gape as a teen girl who looked almost exactly like the mermaid that had been netted earlier spoke to him from her seat in front of a few old crates, "that's surprising... You didn't seem like the kind of guy who was into women..."  
******************************************  
"Rei...ner!" A man's voice called out to Reiner through the haze "Reiner!!" Reiner sat bolt upright before clutching his head, "easy, you passed out, what the hell was that?"  
"Ymir, her name is Ymir." Reiner whispered before covering his mouth and sobbing, "all those dreams about giants, they were true."  
"Those nightmares from when we've had since we were kids?" Annie asked looking over at Reiner, "don't be ridiculous."  
"Don't you think it's odd we all dreamt up the same events, down to the last detail?" Reiner asked, "and that we could remember each dream about them? Eren Yeager, Connie Springer, Sasha Blouse, Historia Reiss, we remembered all their names, what made those dreams so different? Why didn't we just forget in the morning?"  
"Are you saying that, somehow, we were reincarnated?" Bertholdt shook his head, "impossible. Why wouldn't there be documentation of those events? And where did those huge walled cities go?"  
"I think he might be on to something," Annie muttered, Bertholdt tried to interrupt but Annie shook her head, "think about it for a second. Remember how we joked about Dr. Zoë, Levi and Mr. Smith having the same names as the people from our dreams? What if that's not a coincidence? Furthermore, the rest of the 104th might've been reincarnated as these merpeople, the three of us and the the three I mentioned all did horrible things according to our dreams..."  
"It can't be true!" Bertholdt wailed clawing at his head, "no! I am not that thing from my dreams! I did not kill thousands of people!!" Before Annie or Reiner could stop him he took a knife and cut his thumb, "see?! I can't do it! I can't become that thing!"  
"Get a grip Bertholdt!" Reiner roared tossing the knife away, "we aren't who we were back then, of course we can't transform. We got a second chance, let's not mess it up by worrying about the past." The large man sighed, "we got separated from the others for what we did, isn't that punishment enough? We can't apologize, so let's just fix the mess we have to right now and worry about this later."  
"Boys," Annie whispered, "hate to interrupt but, now is later." Annie turned up her T.V's volume, the monitor showing a small sailboat that was crashed into the rocks by the lighthouse. On the higher rocks, the stranded sailors were pointing at two shapes that were ripping up the mast and fish that were on the boat.  
"These two 'mermaids' as they could be called startled the sailors into crashing into the rocks," the announcer reported monotonously, "the army has told the police not to engage, they have a team on the way to deal with these savage beasts." A zoomed-in shot showed the two cryptids in slightly better detail, after squinting at the image for a few seconds the already stressed trio heaved a collective sigh.  
"That's Eren and Mikasa, no doubt," Reiner muttered, "they must want Armin."  
"Let's give him to them!" Bertholdt insisted, "he's gotten us in enough trouble as-" Bertholdt was interrupted by a thud from the stairwell and a quiet hiss. After a few seconds of silence, a dripping hand grabbed the wall of the doorway into Annie's kitchen and a slender blonde man stepped in but slipped with a high-pitched yelp to the floor.  
Annie rushed over to where he fell and looked at the naked man on her kitchen floor. After a few seconds of staring, he looked up with pain-filled and watery eyes.  
'Armin, since when did you start looking at me with those eyes?' Annie's own voice filled her head as she crouched down and stared into the frightened blue eyes of the man lying in front of her, Armin's bandages had fallen off, so there was a red stain in his hair. 'Just like then' she thought, almost tearing up as he pushed his torso up.  
Shakily, Armin reached up with a trembling hand an caressed Annie's cheek, "you're still a good person, to me" he breathed, sounding extremely exerted and not too sure of his words. Annie stared at his soaked face in disbelief for a few more seconds before grabbing under his arms and squeezing him, uncaring about his lack of clothes or the fact that her own clothes were getting soaked. All that mattered was that he remembered too, he forgave her. Just like that, the emotionless shell Annie hid herself in her whole life vanished and she softly cried into Armin's shoulder as he clutched onto her.  
Reiner quietly drew his phone which had begun buzzing from his pocket, as not to interrupt the two people on the floor. After silently listening for a few seconds, he Murmured his assent to the voice on the phone, "hate to interrupt, but looks like we're supposed to draw Eren and Mikasa away," Bertholdt nodded and Annie helped Armin up. "Here," Reiner said, pulling off his shirt and tossing it to Armin, you can at least wear something on the way there and this should cover up the boys downstairs." Armin and Bertholdt both became beet-red as Armin slid into the shirt, which was indeed very large on him.  
"I'll drive," Reiner said, grabbing the keys to Annie's truck from the counter, "let's see if I'm as good at throwing Yeager flat on his ass now as I was back then."


	5. Shift

"So, ideas?" Armin asked, "what will we do?"  
"Too bad you can't plan out battle tactics like you used to, shorty," Reiner teased from the front seat, "it'd be really helpful to have the 'best mind of the 104th' helping us out here."  
"Our plan is this," Bertholdt began, "we use you as bait to distract Eren and Mikasa, the tranquilize them and relocate them. In the process, we release you into the water to protect them until they recover from the sedatives."  
Immediately Armin shook his head, "won't work," he stated adamantly. "I can't calm down those two if you three are there." Armin sighed and looked at Bertholdt and Annie in the back seat, "if they see you they will probably recognize you. Eren will attack you and Mikasa will back him up as usual and they will kill you as strong as you all are."  
"So we have no chance?" Reiner asked, perking an eyebrow, "that's it? Game over?"  
"Not at all, I should be able to give you the ability to change form like I can," Armin let out a hacking cough, his entire body shaking. "Sorry, I need to get to water, I get tired and dehydrated fast after changing."  
Annie reached around Armin's seat and rubbed his back. "How can you do that?" Bertholdt asked as he wrung his hands.  
"Shouldn't you all be wondering how Ymir was brought back as a 'mermaid' despite what she apparently did when the heroic trio of Levi, Erwin and Hange weren't?" Armin wheezed, "Historia was one of the only ones who believed in the visions we had, she searched all over for Ymir until she found her on a boat and gave her the power to change."  
"How did she do that?" Reiner asked, honking at the car ahead of them which was crawling along at a slow rate, "come on grandma, move it."  
"Remember how she got her ability back then?" Armin asked hesitantly. Immediately, Bertholdt covered his mouth and began to breathe very deeply. Reiner immediately stopped honking and his face morphed into a grimace, "you don't have to do this if you don't want to... Sorry for making this seem like the only option."  
"It's no problem," Bertholdt said, his eyes hardening as he rubbed his eyes, "it's our job to protect you, Eren and Mikasa." He inhaled deeply, "whatever that may take, it's our job." Annie reached over and squeezed Bertholdt's shoulder, offering a rare smile, the taller man offered a small, scared smile back.  
"Look on the bright side," Reiner said, "not only do we get to see everyone again, if they don't kill us," Armin interrupted with a cough and a look that hid an internal scream. "I mean," Reiner corrected, "if they accept us, but we also get to avoid cleanup after this little operation!" Bertholdt shook his head in exasperation and Annie pinched the bridge of her nose. "And we are here," Reiner laughed, unbuckling his seatbelt.  
******************************************  
"So how will we do this?" Annie asked, "it's not exactly like we can bite a chunk out of your leg."  
"When Historia gave Ymir the 'shifter power' she had her eat some of the scales on her tail," Armin explained, slipping into a small pool and pressing his legs together as a film formed around them, "those are easily regrown and have enough of my blood for you to have the power."  
"Will we be able to become human again?" Bertholdt asked, eyeing the film around Armin's legs.  
"Not... sure," Armin stuttered as his neck convulsed, "sorry, my vocal cords are, hrk, changing. Ymir never tried so I'm not sure." Armin began hacking and coughed up a liquid that fizzed when it hit the water, his neck tensed and he gasped as the skin on both sides of his throat began to split into gill slits. The film around his legs had fused the two limbs together and his skin fused together as hard gold scales began poking out of the soft skin.  
Annie plucked several of the fully grown scales from Armin's tail and handed several of them to Bertholdt and Reiner, "eat, we need to hurry." Suddenly, a dull boom sounded from down the beach and a thin trail of smoke was visible against the bright blue sky.  
"Annie wait!" Bertholdt wailed, " we don't know if we can come back!"  
"Bertholdt," Reiner murmered, turning the taller man around, "what did I tell you before? We're a team, we stick together and do our job. But, before any of that, you guys are my closest friends as long as I have you two, I don't care where we go."  
"Reiner..." Bertholdt breathed as he rubbed his neck, silence descending over the beach except for the sizzling of Armin's transformation. "Alright," Bertholdt said, "let's do it." Reiner nodded and held out his hand for the golden shards in Annie's hand, after being handed several of the scales, Reiner gave a few to Bertholdt and the trio waded into the small stream that connected the pool where Armin lay and the sea.  
"Alright..." Reiner said, fingering the scales in his palm, "one... two... three!" In synch, the trio dumped Armin's scales into their mouths. After crunching the bony shards and swallowing them, electric jolts began shaking the three humans' bodies. Armin, now completely back to his first form, began pushing each of the agonized people into the ocean as their bodies changed. One by one, Reiner, Annie and Bertholdt were pushed into the sea as their bodies twisted and turned and sizzling film formed around their legs, just as it had with Armin.  
******************************************  
As Eren ripped apart the boat's mast, his ears perked up when he heard a chorus of wails from the far shore, one of which was eerily familiar. 'Armin?' He thought, 'yes, but I don't know the other voices. Shouldn't I be able to recognize them?' A few moments after, Eren spotted four small wakes rushing through the waves, growling in nervousness, he dove off of the boat into the water and rushed to meet the owners of the unknown voices.  
"Eren?" Mikasa whistled, diving off of the ship's deck into the water after the curious merman. Something was off about these newcomers, and she knew it. With a few short pumps of her tail, Mikasa easily caught up to Eren who had paused and was staring at four of their own kind. One was Armin, but Eren was hesitating for a reason.  
Quietly treading water near Armin were three merpeople. A red-scaled male with skin that appeared too tight, showing the muscles and veins underneath 'Bertholdt' Mikasa thought, her pupils contracting. The other male had very pronounced bones across his torso, arms and head, appearing almost like an exoskeleton, 'Reiner'. The one that caught Mikasa's eye was the petite female, with bright eyes that drilled straight into her mind, 'YOU.' With a harsh shriek, Mikasa rushed her, gripping her arms and sending them both spinning to the sandy seafloor.  
"You're alive?" Eren snarled, Armin tried to say something, but Eren had hurled himself at Reiner, snapping with a harsh cracking sound at his eyes and nearly slicing off the blonde's nose, "you shouldn't be here!" Reiner, unused to his new body, fell backwards and back-flipped through the water with Eren gnashing his teeth millimeters from his face. Bertholdt stared for a few seconds before rushing after Reiner, while Armin began his descent down towards a small sandstorm at the seafloor.


	6. Fight

On the seafloor, Annie had managed to writhe free of Mikasa's crushing grip and was lashing her tail, sweeping up sand. Mikasa, sporting a slash just under her eye, returned the display and swept up sand herself. Abruptly, the two pushed off the ground with their arms and locked in a grapple in which claws dug into both competitors hands. Growling, Annie reared her entire torso back and slammed Mikasa into the sand, breaking the grapple.  
Following up the slam, Annie released a flurry of punches and slashes, most of which were blocked by her opponent. Before another punch could be unleashed, Annie was tossed off when Mikasa wrapped their tails together and spun in a  
three-hundred-and-sixty degree turn, using the momentum to send Annie skidding over the sand. Just in time to stop another charge, Armin rushed in with a head butt to Mikasa's back.  
"What are you doing?!" Armin hissed, backing up so his friend could right herself, "you don't normally attack people just for showing up!"  
"She is not 'people,' Armin," Mikasa growled, wiping blood off her cheek, "she is a menace that I did not get to stop before. That thing is a remainder of a past that should be forgotten, you shouldn't have brought her here!"  
"That thing is a person! Just like us," Armin persisted as he shifted his position between Mikasa and her quarry, who was unmoving on the sand, "that time happened and there's nothing to change that. Let your anger go, she can't do anything anymore, you just proved that."  
Bubbles pumped out of Mikasa's gills as she looked over Armin's shoulder at Annie. Contrary to her mental image of her, Mikasa did think that in this body, at least while she was comatose on the ground, she was small and fragile-looking. "Alright," Mikasa sighed, "I'll let it go. But I doubt you'll be able to convince Eren, and I'm not letting you try to go up there and stop him." Armin tried to interrupt, "if Eren is knocked out or in major danger I'll go stop him. For now, it looks like Bertholdt's trying to distract them from each other, can't believe he's trying his hand at peace for once."  
"Bertholdt never wanted to kill people," Armin said, looking up where his best friend clashed with someone who appeared much stronger than him, "he said so himself, back then. Even as he died, he was apologizing, they were only our age when they broke through the first time, and they never even got to see their homes again." With another puff of bubbles, Mikasa assented, remembering. Looking up, she could see Eren holding his own against Reiner, who appeared to be more defensive, taking Eren's hits while Bertholdt tried to land hits on Eren's tail.  
******************************************  
"I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!" Reiner was forced to absorb the raging brunette's slashes and punches, "you'll pay for what you did!"  
"Eren, please stop!" Bertholdt pleaded, trying to disable Eren's tail which was thrashing crazily as he kept pushing Reiner back, "this isn't rational!"  
"Bertl, back off," Reiner wheezed, taking a hard blow to his arm, which was sprouting sizzling bruises, "I deserve this, and worse," looking back at Eren, who stopped his hits to listen but was trembling with held-in anger, "Eren, hit me with your best. I don't care, I deserve worse for what I did."  
His gills pulsating heavily, Eren lowered his head, "you do deserve worse and I can't punish you enough." Turning his head downwards, Eren began to dive to where Mikasa was rising up. Looking back Eren gave a stare that made him seem much older than his appearance showed, "come on, that was a lifetime ago. We should go, you're both probably exhausted."  
"Eren, you're making the right choice," Mikasa rose up beside the green- tailed cryptid, "Armin's down there with Annie. She should wake up soon."  
"Hopefully it doesn't take her a whole two years this time," Eren glanced back at Reiner who was giving a hopeful grin. With a small jet of bubbles, Eren let out a hesitant smile at the blonde before diving down to where Armin was crouched on the seafloor.  
******************************************  
"Annie," a thin voice called out, "Annie!"  
'Who is that?' The blonde thought, 'I feel like I know them, why am I so tired? Why is it so cold?' Annie's heart-rate picked up 'cold, too cold everywhere. Can't get warm," abruptly, Annie's eyes snapped open and she thrashed her tail, sending her into a bed of seaweed in a corner of a small, dimly lit cavern.  
"Well, that's one way to wake her up," Reiner chuckled as a small, gray-headed man put down a pair of dark and smooth stones, "nice work, Connie."  
"Not a problem," Connie replied, "I'd rather we not have to worry if she's gonna wake up again."  
"You're still as irritating as ever Springer, " Annie grunted, ripping some weeds off of her arm, "rocks? Really?"  
"Really, rocks," Connie and Reiner spoke in unison before looking at each other. Reiner grinned and Connie let out a slow grin of his own.  
Annie sighed, "I'll let you two have your little make out fest, I'm going to go look around." Immediately Reiner let out a deep laugh, similar to that of an underground explosion, while Connie's eyes widened in embarrassment.  
"B-be quiet!" Connie snapped jetting off towards a hole in the wall of the cave. Reiner swam after him, still laughing.  
"Wait, Connie let me love you!" Connie let out a yell that could be heard in the distance as the duo swam away, leaving Annie alone in the dark room.  
'Some things never change,' Annie peered out of the hole the boys had left out of and was astounded by what she saw. She was in a rocky crevice, lined with caverns and it appeared that everyone was there, Bertholdt was talking to Armin, who appeared to be showing him different cave systems and telling him what each led to. Up above, what appeared to be Jean was mumbling something to Eren, while casting sidelong glances at Reiner, who was still chasing Connie. 'Never mind, a lot of things stay the same.'


	7. Ambush

"Oh you're awake," a red-headed woman rose up below Annie, her face smiling, but her eyes were shadowed, as if she was in some sort of pain. "Come on, I'll show you around."  
Annie nodded as the woman, near her own height, came up beside her, "thank you, who are you by the way?" The woman whirled around, her face flashing in shocked rage, Annie worked a brow, "I didn't mean to offend you, I just thought only people from back then were here."  
The red-head sighed, "of course you wouldn't know me." Looking back at Annie, her face was set in thinly masked anger, "my name is Petra Ral, one of the members of the Survey Corps special operations squad, well, I was one of the members." Annie's eyebrow twitched again, 'this is one of the ones I killed, one of the ones who served under Levi.'  
"I'm very sorry," Annie said, "it isn't much, but it's all I can offer to you at the moment."  
Petra smiled hesitantly, "I would say I forgive you, but right now, I don't." Turning back around she added, "but I would like to. Let's go, I'm sure other people will want to see you."  
******************************************  
Passing through the dim cavern, Annie caught glimpses of people she knew, people she barely recognized, and people she did not know at all, looking at her guide, the blonde asked a question, "was everyone brought back?"  
Petra looked back and shook her head, "it seems like only certain people were brought back, a few Survey Corps members are here, but mostly it appears like a lot of the people reincarnated were part of the 104th Trainee Squad." Turning back around and diving down she added, "I don't know how reincarnation works, so I don't know why some people weren't brought back."  
'They just weren't brought back here,' Annie though as she turned downwards, 'I guess Levi wasn't the only one Commander Smith brought from the underground, or more people have backstories I don't know about.' Suddenly, a chill flew up Annie's spine and she rocketed out of the narrowing tunnel Petra was leading her down.  
"What's wrong Leonhardt?" Petra asked, her face looking like a painting over a dark canvas, "scared of small spaces?" At that note, Annie's eyes widened and she jetted away from the red-head, "shit, now! Do it now!" Behind Annie, of she had turned around, three men sprung out of the tunnel and began chasing her.  
"We've got you this time, bitch!" A man with two-toned hair tried to rush ahead and grab Annie but she effectively turned straight up and he scraped against the dark rocks on the seafloor.  
"Oluo, stay in formation!" Another man, blonde, helped pick up his fallen comrade, "we need to take her down quickly, and the only way to do that is to work as a team."  
"Eld is right," the third man rushed past with Petra beside him, "we don't stand a chance if we all attack randomly." Oluo and Eld gave chase with them, Annie had gained ground, but the quartet behind her knew the terrain better and easily regained sight of her. "Petra! Go below her! Oluo, above! Eld, to the left, I'll take the right!"  
"Alright, Gunther," Petra nodded to Oluo and the four split off, and surrounded the fleeing blonde, "Oluo, go higher!"  
"Don't order me around Petra!" Oluo snapped, but obeyed and pushed upwards until he was near the top of the crevice his team had led Annie into.  
'Shit, how am I supposed to take all four of them on?' Annie looked around at the rage-filled team around her, 'they know these bodies better than me and they know the terrain, what am I going to do?' The blondes eyes widened as her pursues tightened the makeshift circle around her, 'shit I'm going to die here.' Reflexively, Annie let out a harsh, resounding shriek that actually made her attackers yell out and slow down, 'that's the howl I used to summon Titans, I guess I can still use it.' Continuing her flight from her stunned attackers, Annie turned in what seems to be the direction Petra brought her from, 'it'll travel faster and be louder underwater, I'll need to remember that.'  
"Annie!" With a huff, Annie looked up, charging at her were Armin, Reiner, Connie and what appeared to be Sasha, "what was that shout?"  
"About time you showed up," Annie slowed, and looked back to an empty path, "I was attacked by the members of Levi's old squad, a woman named Petra led me down here and she set a trap."  
Armin, who had been circling Annie and looking for injuries, sighed, "I thought she'd be able to safely lead you through the area, I'm sorry."  
"Hey, it's not your fault, Arm," Connie offered, "who could've known she'd go mental?"  
"Can't say I blame her really," Annie admitted, "I didn't even know her name but I ended her life back then. If it were me in her place, I'd do the exact same thing."  
"That doesn't really offer a good excuse," Sasha pointed out.  
"Good point," Armin looked back at Annie's face, satisfied in his injury check, "I'll find people who I'm more sure we can trust to find those four." Annie nodded in response, satisfied with his plan.  
"Let's head back for now," Reiner piped in, "we don't want you to get jumped by them again." Turning around, he headed off, Sasha and Connie following.  
Armin tried to follow, but Annie grabbed his arm and held him still, "it isn't your fault." The blonde man tried to interject but Annie interrupted, "you still blame yourself when something bad happens, it's not your fault."  
"Hey lovebirds, let's go!" Connie called out from up ahead, Annie casually followed as if nothing have happened, leaving Armin alone until he swam off after the group.  
******************************************  
"I heard about what happened," Mikasa said as Annie was looking about the small room she was given, "I personally think that while you deserve whatever they planned to do, it was wrong of them to attack you."  
Annie listened to her statement and was quiet for a few moments before responding, "is that all you came to say? Nothing about how it would have been good to have me gone to keep your boyfriend safe?"  
"He's family," Mikasa muttered, "and I have other people to protect him from besides you, like those fishers that snagged up Ymir, I doubt they're gone for good considering how her and Historia described them. Reiner and Bertholdt were with them weren't they?"  
"Yes," Annie turned around, facing the dark-haired girl, "it was Hanji and Levi. They run an illegal fish trade from an aquarium, me and Reiner were sent to keep an eye on you all, but also to investigate them. Netting Ymir was an accident apparently, but knowing that crazy woman, you're right in believing she'll be back."  
Just after Annie's statement, Jean rushed to thee trance to Annie's room, "Mikasa we have a problem, a boat's been spotted nearby and there are a trio of divers with harpoon guns searching for something. It's likely that they are the same people Ymir and Historia saw."  
"Get everyone inside, we've planned for something like this," Jean nodded and exited with Mikasa following and throwing a glance at Annie, "stay put."  
"Whatever you say, boss." Annie mocked as Jean and Mikasa rushed off, 'this is bad, those four are probably still far out, what if they don't make it back before Erwin and his cronies get here?'  
******************************************


	8. Familiar

Gunther slammed his fist into the rock that made up the roof of the cave he was in with his three teammates. "I can't believe we let her beat us again!"  
Going up behind him, Eld gently grabbed and lowered Gunther's arm, which now sported small, sizzling cuts, "there's nothing we can do about that now. We should've been expecting to fail, we had no idea what our enemy was capable of. Next time-"  
"There won't be a next time," Oluo was just as livid as Gunther, if not more so. "I doubt those brats will let us anywhere near her, that was our one shot," turning to Petra, he glowered and added, "if you hadn't told me to pull up, I could've taken her out right there!"  
"Oluo that's enough!" Oluo turned back to Eld, "blaming each other won't solve anything. All it will do is work against us."  
"I wonder what would have gone differently if Captain Levi was here." Petra looked up to the surface of the ocean, where a small boat was cruising lazily.  
"I do too," Gunther admitted, "where the hell is he? Why wasn't he brought back with the rest of us?"  
"Maybe those rumors of his background were true after all," Eld was following the boat, which was slowing to a stop.  
"Tch, that's bullshit." Oluo sneered, pulling his lip and nose up in a grimace that looked like he smelled something rotten. "No way Captain Levi would come from somewhere like that, he's too refined."  
"That's beside the point," Gunther interrupted flexing his healed hand which was excreting a clear, mucous-like substance that twirled about as it rose to the surface through a hole made by his punch. "What matters is what we plan to do now, here's my idea..."  
******************************************  
"Com check, this is Erwin." On the boat Petra saw from the bottom of the sea, three people were adjusting sleek diving masks that had an set of lights and buttons on the sides. "Levi? Hange? Can you hear me?"  
"This is Mad Scientist calling Eyebrows and Shortstack," Erwin jerked his head to the side as Hange's voice tumbled into his ear along with a crackle of static, "can you hear me boys?"  
"All to well," Levi's voice came through his headset nigh a second after Hange's. "Didn't we agree on no code-names, four-eyes?"  
"But you just gave me one!" Hange teased, "unless it's a pet name..."  
"Alright you two, let's not get off task here, are you both ready?" Erwin received a nod from the two masked figures on the deck, "alright then, activate your oxygen and thermal view and dive when ready. Also, are our new guns to your liking?" On each diver's waist was a long-barreled gun capable of firing a harpoon with the water-proof metal line attached to drag back whatever was hit.  
"Mine is," Hange cooed, stroking the weapon like a beloved pet. "I think I'll name it Sawney."  
"Why would you name a gun?" Levi asked as he sat on the end of the boat making sure his oxygen was coming through, "you don't plan to marry it do you?"  
"Why? Jealous?" Levi clicked his tongue and flipped off the end of the boat. With a laugh, Hange adjusted her oxygen and pencil-dived in after him. After making sure his companions were out of the way, Erwin triple-checked his oxygen and followed Levi's example and flipped off of the boat's aft.  
******************************************  
"Com check number two, can you both still hear me?" As the bubbles cleared, Erwin could clearly see what was most assuredly Hange filling a vial with a strange clear liquid.  
"This liquid is exhibiting a high temperature, I wonder if it's an excrement of the two we saw earlier?" Hange slipped the vial into a small pouch next to her gun's holster, "maybe a scent-mark or bit of fecal matter?"  
"You would get excited over fish shit, you have before." Levi's body language indicated a great deal of repulsion to whatever now rested in Hange's bag, "looks like it came from down there, let's go look." Diving down, the duo removed their guns from their belts and swam to the cave system on the seafloor.  
'Can they not hear me?' Erwin was growing concerned, but not panicked, "Levi? Hange? Do you-" A large, gold and brown object flashed in the corner of Erwin's eye before sending him reeling back. Righting himself and turning off his thermal camera in favor of a full color view of his assailant, Erwin was awestruck by what he saw.  
From the waist up, he appeared a large blonde man. At his elbows however, were bony fins that looked solid enough to slice open a limb. Where his legs should have been, was a long tail with dark gold and brown scales almost five feet in length. Reaching for his gun, Erwin was struck by a second creature. Lithe, but muscular with brighter scales than the male, it grabbed Erwin's gun and tore it out of the holster.  
"Hange, Levi, please respond I'm under at-" The small one struck again, lashing at Erwin and cutting into the outer layer of his suit. Swinging his elbow, Erwin struck the female away, but the male came forward with a strong grip on Erwin's arms. But the grip loosened slightly after a few moments of spinning through the water as the beast stared through Erwin's clear mask.  
'Humanity's first defeat will come only when we stop fighting,' taking in the merman's face again, it's nostrils flaring above a thick bit of facial hair, more words sprung out of Erwin's subconscious and burned through his head. 'As long as we keep fighting, we haven't lost.'  
"Mi-" A harsh yell interrupted Erwin and he was tossed aside by the giant cryptid as a harpoon retracted from its arm. Looking around the thrashing figure, Erwin saw Levi retract the spiked wire into his gun. A few feet behind, Hange was firing at the his second assailant but only leaving small cuts due to the speed of their opponent. Seconds later and Levi fired another harpoon, but this time it was dodged and the wire was grabbed by Mike's uninjured arm.  
Feeling all around his head, Erwin found the switch closest to his ear and pressed down. "Both of you, look at who you're shooting at!" All four combatants stopped their assaults and turned to Erwin, who was speaking through a mouthpiece on the front of his mask, "don't they seem familiar at all?"  
Regaining his composure, Mike stared down Levi who was pressing the switch to shift his vision mode. Farther off, Hange was doing the same, with their opponent warily circling them. "Impossible, it couldn't be those two." Levi's voice was still reading through Erwin's earpiece even though he couldn't speak back directly, "those were just fucked up dreams."  
"I dunno, the one that floored you looked pretty familiar too," Hange was trying to swim over to the mermaid before them, but the cryptid kept backing away. "Those kids had a reaction indicating they felt the same way. Either way, I'm naming you Nanaba!"  
"Did that thing hit your head to hard dumbass? It's imp-" Levi's gaze was caught  
by a group of four more merpeople by the seafloor, all regarding him specifically. The raven's gaze flitted past all four, but rested on the lone female's a few moments longer. Abruptly, Levi shot up to the surface and onto the boat.  
"Levi? Where are you going?!" Hange chased after the now unseeable man, abandoning her previous target who was now diving to the group near the seafloor. Left alone, Erwin looked through his mask at what he believed to be his old friend once more before turning and following Hange. Once Erwin was gone and the boat began to turn back to shore, the male dove down after his ally with his arm still bearing small cuts that had begun sprouting golden-brown scales.


	9. Necessary Secrecy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter to be redesigned

"So..." Hange pursed their lips and looked at Erwin and Levi, who were both pacing. "Everything really happened then?"  
"We don't know that," Erwin pointed out, coming to rest on the bench behind Hange. "Although they looked similar to the people we saw in our dreams, it's doubtful those events really happened." Looking at his right arm, Erwin clenched his fist. "There's no archaeological evidence showing any sign of three giant walls or the remains of soldiers wearing machinery capable of flight."  
"Whatever your evidence says, they were right there." Sitting across from Erwin, Levi crossed his legs and rubbed his forehead. "The four on the seabed" the raven-haired man moaned, "they were the ones who I'd dream about. Dead, in that giant forest. I'd know those faces anywhere."  
"So then," Hange tugged the wheel of their boat towards the approaching docks, "what do we do?"  
"Go over what we know," Erwin deadpanned. "No one would believe us, no one would want to -" The boat jerked to a stop and the trio looked and saw a larger, darkly painted ship pull up just ahead of their's, blocking their path.  
"Erwin Smith!" A booming voice called out over the mystery boat's P.A system, "this is Nike Dok of the F.B.I! You and your subordinates are under arrest for illegal trade of marine life and endangerment of a critically endangered species, as has been reported by the C.P.A!" A ladder was lowered down onto Hange's boat's dock, "prepare to be boarded."  
******************************************  
"Are you four alright?" Mike stopped just above Gunther, "what's wrong?"  
"That was, Captain Levi..." Oluo was still gazing at the retreating shadow of the boat. "He looked right at us, why did he leave? Why was he human?!"  
"Oluo, calm down." Nanaba shifted her position between Oluo and the direction where Levi, Erwin and Hange had gone, "there's a reason for this, we just need to think it through."  
"I'd rather find out myself than just think this shit over!" Bursting into motion, Oluo slammed into Nanaba, attempting to force her out of his way. Rather than falling back, Nanaba grabbed the incensed man and scooped her hands under his armpits, tossing him into the sand, "let me follow him! Don't try to stop me, you -"  
"Oluo!" Eld spun around and held his comrade against the sand, "pull yourself together! Chasing that boat won't bring him back!"  
Oluo grit his teeth and writhed in Eld's grip, "let go of me! If that blonde shit can bring those three here, I can bring Captain Levi back, too!" Breaking free, Oluo surged forward but stopped once he realized the boat was far beyond his sight. Turning back around, Oluo stared at the sand below him, "I just don't understand," Oluo murmured,"why couldn't he be the one to come back?"  
"There has to be a reason," Gunther huffed, placing a comforting hand on Oluo's shoulder. "But I doubt he's gone for good, he'll be back. With Commander Erwin and Squad Leader Hange, too." Flicking up his chin, Gunther signaled for his three comrades to follow him back into the gorge. Diving down, the four left Mike and Nanaba alone on the seafloor.  
"You know why they didn't come back," Nanaba deadpanned. Looking over at the larger blond, she glanced him up and down, "why not tell them?"  
"I was there when Erwin recruited Levi," Mike explained, swimming off with Nanaba following behind. "I doubt Levi's past is clear, Erwin himself was never one to resist gambling with lives to achieve with what he saw as right. While I respect that, not everyone would agree his hands were bloodless."  
"And Hange?" Nanaba pressed. "Their only fault seemed to be recklessness, but it was for knowledge, I doubt too many people could frown upon that." Stopping outside a small hole in the rocky sand, Nanaba turned to Mike, awaiting a response.  
"I don't know," Mike admitted, turning behind Nanaba's floating form. "Maybe after we left, something happened." Diving down into the pit, Mike let the wide fin on his tail trail on the back of Nanaba's neck, causing her to shiver. Flipping over her back, Nanaba slipped in after Mike's tail had vanished down the hole.  
******************************************  
Annie was in her room, scraping at a metallic material on one of the rock walls when she heard a rhythmic thrumming from the hole facing away from the open exit on the opposite side of the cavern. Looking at the wall, Annie noticed a large rock that stood out from the rest of the wall. Without warning, the same boulder was flung off the wall, showering Annie with dust and stones. Spinning around, Annie whipped her tail, sweeping the dust away with a strong rush of water. Peering through the lessened murk, Annie caught sight of a brown and gold flecked tail slipping out of her room into the clear blue water beyond.  
Righting herself so that she faced the hole, Annie thrusted her tail and rushed after her surprise visitor. Once she had left, more of the rock around the silver streak in Annie's wall fell away, revealing more of the shape, which was rusted and marred with a cut resembling a check-mark.


End file.
